2 part in ATO?

shoelaceike · Jul 31, 2016

Can I mix my alk and cal solution in my ATO water?

For instance, if I lose 1 gallon of water a day and add 5 oz of alk and cal, can I just put 5 oz of each solution per gallon in my ATO?

nemo1017 · Jul 31, 2016

No, I'm pretty sure it'll precipitate out.

nemo1017 · Jul 31, 2016

Dose the two solutions separately.

shoelaceike · Jul 31, 2016

Thanks....I thought it might

nemo1017 · Jul 31, 2016

No prob, but you can use kalkwasser in an ato. It contains the two of those in equal parts as it is calcium hydroxide. Get your levels to where you want them with the part and kalkwasser will maintain them for you.

cmcoker · Jul 31, 2016

You could add just the alkalinity portion and manually dose the calcium daily

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 31, 2016

Yes, you can out either part in an ATO, but not both.

mic209 · Aug 1, 2016

I know somebody who did the ALK portion through her ATO and it worked out well. Just make sure you have consistent evaporation throughout the year with changing seasons. I tried using kalk in my ATO, i set it up in the fall and all was well. When summer came and my tank evaporated a lot more, my ALK sky rocketed and caused some problems with my corals. Never again.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 1, 2016

mic209 said:
I know somebody who did the ALK portion through her ATO and it worked out well. Just make sure you have consistent evaporation throughout the year with changing seasons. I tried using kalk in my ATO, i set it up in the fall and all was well. When summer came and my tank evaporated a lot more, my ALK sky rocketed and caused some problems with my corals. Never again.

You could have just added less solid calcium hydroxide into the ATO. I used less than saturated limewater for many years because I did not need more.

mic209 · Aug 1, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
You could have just added less solid calcium hydroxide into the ATO. I used less than saturated limewater for many years because I did not need more.

That would of worked, it just took me a while to put 2 and 2 together to finally realize that I was filling my ATO up more often. When I finally figured it out, I just stopped using kalk and went with 2 part and dosers.